The present invention relates in general to structural and ornamental mailbox designs, and importantly a combination of both, which provide user enhancements and improved security to those depositing mail in and/or removing mail from the mailbox. More specifically, the present invention discloses the addition of one or more transparent panels to the body and/or the door (lid), either front or back, or both, of the mailbox. The disclosed transparent panels may take on a variety of shapes and sizes and may be positioned in a variety of locations on the mailbox and in a variety of patterns or arrangements. In one alternative embodiment of the present invention, one or more of the panels are changed from transparent to translucent.
There are several reasons why it is desirable to be able to see what might be in a mailbox before opening the door (lid). The owner may prefer to see if there is any mail in the mailbox at a glance, rather than going through the effort of opening and then closing the door to the mailbox, only to learn that there is no mail or that the mail has not yet been delivered. The mail carrier may wish to see that the mailbox is empty before opening the door to deposit that day's mail. If a delivery is being made and the delivery person can see that the recipient has not yet picked up that day's mail, then it might be acceptable to place the delivery item in the mailbox, knowing that it will be received by the recipient when the mail is picked up. If the mailbox is empty, then there is the possibility that the mail for that day has already been picked up and the delivery should be made directly to the residence or business, if the scheduled recipient is going to actually receive the delivery that day.
One concern in providing a transparent or translucent panel as part of a mailbox is whether there is a loss of privacy. While anyone can obviously open another's unlocked mailbox to see what is inside, the issue relates more to casual passersby. In the case of rural mailboxes where the mailbox may be several yards from the residence and where there may be numerous vehicles driving by, it may be preferable to not reveal what is in the mailbox to such passersby. Such individuals would not likely simply drive by and open each mailbox. However, if they happen to see that mail had been delivered or that a particular item or article was in the mailbox, there could be a temptation to examine the mailbox contents and possibly remove items. For example, if a passerby happened to notice that a particular magazine had been delivered, there could be a temptation to remove that magazine from the mailbox. Without a transparent panel, the likelihood of that pilferage is believed to be fairly low.
As the transparent (or translucent) panel is made smaller and thus less “open” to passersby, the amount of light which can enter the mailbox to help illuminate the contents becomes more limited. If the panel was relatively small considering the size of the mailbox, or if a translucent panel is used which will not transmit as much light, it may not be possible to see at least a portion of each article which may be in the mailbox. This could be a combination of the panel not being large enough to see into the “corners” of the mailbox and not letting in sufficient light to illuminate any items located in the corners of the mailbox.
One advantage of the present invention is to enable the mail carrier to see that no explosive device or hazardous material has been positioned in the mailbox prior to opening the front door of the mailbox for depositing the mail. While this is not necessarily the primary purpose of the present invention, it is an important aspect and a benefit of the present invention. Depending on the degree of pranks, vandalism, and terrorism which might be occurring in a particular region or neighborhood, this aspect of the present invention may have an enhanced value.